Roman Empire
The Roman Empire is an imperial human civilisation that came to galactic prominence in early 2200. The Roman Empire is the longest running continuous empire that the human race has ever had, and the empire can be placed at around 2700 years old. History The Roman Empire can be dated back to 753 BC with the Roman Kingdom in the modern day country of Italy. Little is known about the Roman Kingdom and many speculate it was a myth, but there are recorded documents dated to 753 BC which do explicitly detail settlements where the Roman Kingdom preceded. The kingdom lasted until 509 BC when the monarchy was overthrown, and the Roman Republic was established. The Roman Republic was very successful and saw the widespread expansion of the borders of the nation into Europe, Asia and Africa. Although the Roman Republic was very hierarchical, it was one of the first democratic nations ever seen on earth where the citizens voted on two consuls who headed the Roman government. The Roman Republic, however, was unstable and many civil wars broke out during this time which eventually led to the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, which ultimately led to the formation of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was formed not too long after Caesar's assassination, although a precise date of when the transition took place in undetermined. The Roman Empire continued where the republic left off and continued the expansion of their borders into new territories. By the time of Trajan's death in 117 AD, the Roman Empire ruled over most of Europe and northern Africa and was populated with 90 million inhabitants (around 20% of the world's population at the time). Many years of hardship followed with the assassination Commodus in 192 AD, after which the Year of the Five Emperors began in which five men would claim the throne. In the end, Septimius Severus won the thone. After the assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 AD led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor over a fifty-year time span. During his reign, Diocletian tried to make amends to this by allowing four emperors to rule the empire at the same time (known as a Tetrarchy). This inevitably failed an led to another civil war. The civil war was finally ended in 324 AD when Constantine the Great ended the civil war and made himself the sole ruler of the empire. Constantine the Great decided to split the empire into two separate vassal empires, known as the Eastern and Western Roman Empire, which were separately controlled but still were under Constantine's direct rule. This would ultimately help the empire allowing for greater expansion and more efficient. Post - Constantine the Great Constantine's death marks the beginning of the dark ages of the empire. Not much is known about the next 800 years of history. It is known that during this time, much of Africa and Asia became parts of the empire over many successive wars. The next significant event was in 1298 AD when the empire discovered the Americas and a few years later, Australia. The empire knew that the Americas and Australia were inhabited by natives, so Emperor Paulus ordered the annexation of the continents. In 1301 AD, the annexation began which marked the beginning of the New Rome Wars. Fighting lasted over 15 years and was a hard-fought win for the Roman Empire. The natives of both the Americas and Australia were assimilated into the empire. Much of the native's society was destroyed during the wars, and this would fuel resistance for the empire for many years. Over the next 200 years, there were many civil wars in the Americas where native families would try to resist Roman rule. In 1644 AD, Emperor Tiberius was visiting the Americas after a 30 year period of peace within the continent when he was assassinated by native descendants and Roman defectors. This marked the beginning of the Great Civil War. The defectors managed over several years to take control of South America and declared their independents. Roman commanders knew that there would be no easy attack methods and were forced to sign an independent treaty guaranteeing the Native Republic's safety. The Great War Political tensions were high over the next 250 years between the two nations. There was little to no political discourse, and in the early 20th Century, terrorist attacks became commonplace in both empires. One significant attack in 1918 AD saw a native sleeper agent infiltrating into the Roman Senate and attempting to assassinate the Emperor during a session. This and many other attacks led to the Great War which began in 1930 AD. The Roman Army launched an attack against both the eastern and western sides of South America. The Native Republic was prepared for an attack but were no match for the continuous attack from the Romans and were defeated after three years of war. As part of the peace treaty, the Romans were given complete control of the continent and its peoples. In 1934 AD, the Slavery Bill was signed. Previously, the Roman Empire had a slave trade for people had committed crimes against the empire. This, however, was only for a temporary amount of time until the Slavery Bill, which expanded this law and allowed the empire to keep people in slavery for any amount of time. Many of the Native Republic's citizens became eternal slaves of the Roman Empire. It is now estimated that 30 - 40% of the Roman Empire's inhabitants are slaves. Modern Era After the Great War, the Era of Peace began, and the empire began to build both it's economic and scientific knowledge. By 1967 AD, the first Roman space probe had left the planet and only 20 years later was the first man landed on the moon. The empire now set its eyes to the stars. By the early 2000s, there was a large incentive to find resources within the solar system. So in 2010 AD, the first manned mission to Mars took place and was successful. This along with many other missions over the next 100 years led to the construction of the first spaceport, Port Caesar, in the solar system in 2110 AD. In 2152 AD, the discovery of Faster Than Light (FTL) travel introduced the prospect of exploring other star systems. Several FTL probes were sent to nearby systems and provided mining, research and colonisation data. By 2200 AD, the empire has multiple mining and research stations within the Sol system and now, with the discovery of FTL travel, their aims are to other star systems. Politics Government The Roman Empire is entirely under the control of the Emperor. The Emperor does have a Senate which acts as an advisory organisation for the Emperor. It is made up of regional governors, army generals, scientists and other prominent leaders which are hand selected by the emperor. The Senate has, previously, been made up of just a few members or several hundred. In the early 2000s, Emperor Quintis enforced a law that forced a mandatory number of senators to at least 20. This was to improve relations with citizens. However, the Emperor is still the supreme leader and can still ignore their senators. While the Emperor is the supreme leader, they usually assign regional governors to different parts of the empire to enforce the Emperors rule. These governors are given complete control of the region but are still under the rule of the Emperor. Law and Criminal Justice Roman Law is based on the ancient documentation known as the Law of the Twelve Tables (Latin: Leges Duodecim Tabularum). The Law of the Twelve Tables details the most basic of laws that govern the Roman Empire including legal procedure, trials, theft, debt, rights of fathers over their family, legal guardianship (over women), inheritance, acquisition and possession, land rights, laws of injury, public law and sacred law. These laws have been shaped over thousands of years, ammended and expanded with many others laws to form the Modern Roman Law (Latin: Lex modern Romanorum). Modern Roman Law is split into two sections: Public Law and Private Law. Public Law protects the citizens and economy of the empire as a whole whereas Private Law protects the individual and the rights that the individual has. Legal Status Legal standing in the Roman Empire is of great importance within the empire as it decides which rights to do and do not have in the eyes of the law. Status is broken into three categories: Roman citizen (status civitatis), Roman family (status familiae), and "he who could be set free" (status libertatis). S''tatus Civitatis is the status of a Roman citizen. According to Modern Roman Law, only full Roman citizens are granted full civil and political rights. S''tatus Familiae ''is the status of an individual in a Roman family. In the past, it dictates that families are headed and ruled by the father. This has been changed in the modern era thanks to womens rights being changed. Now the parents of the family are given this status in unison upon marrage. S''tatus Familiae ''gives married parents authority over their children. The laws governing S''tatus Familiae ''in the past gave fathers complete control on what there wives and children did, where they went and what they did as a job. Over the last 100 years however, these laws have been somewhat relaxed and modified to align more with modern views on women's and children's rights. Fathers now do not have complete control over the family but parents are still fully responsible for their children's actions, education, welbeing and health and can be procecuted if these needs are not met. S''tatus Libertatis ''is the status of a slave. Slaves usually come from military conquest. The legal status of a slave is based on the fact that a slave is not subject to laws but rather is an object of the law. A master has the right to ownership over a slave and has the rights to sell or pawn them but cannot harm or kill them. A slave can be afforded protection if their master goes through the legal proceedings to approve it. A slave does not have a family. Sexual relationships with other slaves is not considered marrage, but rather cohabitation under the eyes of the law. A master can also give a slave a certain amount of propery (such as land or buildings) for their own use. This is protected under privacy laws and the owner is not permitted to enter without the slave's permission. Anyone with any status can become a slave. Slavery is hereditary, the child of a slave women becomes a slave regardless of the fathers status. However, a child is free if the mother was free for a time during the pregnancy, no matter how short of a time it was. The ways a free man can become a slave are as follows: * As detailed in the Twelve Tables: A person who admits to owing money or has been adjudged to owe money must be given 30 days to pay. After that, the creditor can lay hands on him and haul him to court. If he does not satisfy the judgment and no one is surety for him, the creditor may take the defendant with him in stocks or chains... * Citizens involved in false presentation of slavery for their own benefit can become a slave. If a free man is sold as a slave, then after proving that he is free he shared proceeds from the sale with the party that sold him. A magistrate (''praetor) could deprive the seller of his freedom. * Convicts (most of which are sentenced to death), can become slaves and their property would belong to state. * A Roman citizen can become a slave if they had "mutual living" with another master's slave despite the master's objection. A master can set free a slave at any time by way of a legal manumission with a magistrate. Free slaves are not given full citizenship unless their master appoints them as one, which is frowned upon. Freed slaves are usually given the status ''libertus. ''Freed slaves still have obligations to their former masters (which is well regulated under the law). They have to be obedient and respectful to their former master. Foreign Relations Military Economy Overview Science and Technology Transport Energy and Water Supply Demographics Ethnic Groups Languages Religion Migration Education Healthcare Culture